Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a leading global gases and engineering company and a major supplier to the worldwide steel industry. ArcelorMittal is the world's largest and most global steel company. AIST, whose membership includes iron and steel producers and their suppliers, presents the award annually to an individual or organization to recognize their deployment and use of innovative new technologies or practices that result in significant energy conservation improvements. To qualify, awardees must have operated and realized the energy benefits for at least two years to ensure the solution is credible and sustainable.

ArcelorMittal received the award in January for its work to implement Linde REBOX® oxyfuel solutions on its rotary hearth furnace. Linde and ArcelorMittal worked together to convert the furnace from air-fuel to complete flameless oxyfuel operation.

Following the successful 2007 implementation of a Linde REBOX oxyfuel technical solution, ArcelorMittal realized a 60 percent reduction in the furnace’s total fuel consumption compared to the original air-fuel operation. The Linde technology also reduced the furnace’s annual nitrogen oxide emissions output by 92 percent and annual carbon dioxide emissions by up to 60 percent below the prior air-fuel performance. The conversion also enabled ArcelorMittal to achieve a 25 percent increase in material throughput and a 50 percent reduction in scale formation.

Grzegorz Moroz, the senior engineer from Linde who led the project, said, “Receiving the AIST Energy Achievement award validates Linde’s ability to create great value for Arcelor Mittal and echoes what operators of 120 other steel reheat furnaces around the world have realized with Linde’s REBOX solutions: reduced fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and lower operating costs.”

“Linde’s turnkey solution is a must for steel producers who want to achieve significant operational improvements on existing equipment without making a large capital investment. Thousands of high temperature steel reheat and annealing furnaces currently operating around the world could benefit from implementing the REBOX Oxyfuel technologies,” Moroz said.

Mike Lantz, senior process engineer and oxyfuel conversion project manager for ArcelorMittal, said, “It is an honor to have received the 2009 AIST Energy Achievement Award. It recognizes ArcelorMittal’s strategic commitment to sustainability.”'

Jerome Granboulan, vice president of ArcelorMittal and CEO of Tubular Products, said, “As an industry leader, we focus on maintaining operational excellence while investing in projects that will strengthen our cost position and improve environmental performance.”

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 15.9 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.